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D rogram and Papers 



Jrass Association Convention 

Held with AMERICAN FOUNDRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



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MAY 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 1907 
Second Regiment Armory 

PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



^ complete report of the proceedings published in the June number of 
THE METAL INDUSTRY 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 



No registration of title of this book 
as a preliminary to copyright protec- 
tion has been found. 



Forwarded to Order Division — JUi&~ J J9QI- 

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(Date) 
(Apr. 5, 1901—5,000.) J* lm &. 



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[LIBRARY of CONGRESS 



PROGRAM 



MAY 81 190? 



CLASS XXo No. 

eopy A. 



t 1 * TSi=>° 

Proposed Brass Association 

Second Regiment Armory ----- Philadelphia, Pa. 

Wednesday, 10 A. ML, May 22, 1907 



Address by Mr. Charles J. Caley, Chairman of a Committee 
appointed by the American Foundrymen's Association, to look into 
the question of a permanent Association to be devoted to tjie Brass 
Industry and kindred interests. 

Address by Dr. Moldeke, Secretary of the Committee. 



Election of Temporary Chairman and Secretary. 



Remarks by those present upon the advisability of forming 
such an Association. 



Appointment of Committees. 



READING OF PAPERS 

Science Applied to the Brass Industry, by Andrew M. Fairlie. 

Electro Deposition of Brass, by Charles H. Proctor. 

A Plea for Healthful Conditions in the Brass Industry, 

by Walter B. Snow. 

Automatic Polishing, by Jonas A. Parker. 



Adjourn 'to 

Thursday Morning, 9:30 

Reports of Committees. Election of Officers. 



HOW TO REACH THE ARMORY 

The Second Regiment Armory, at Broad and Susquehanna avenues can 
be reached by a line going north on Eighth street, sign board marked Strawberry 
Mansion via Susquehanna avenue; all cars going north on Thirteenth street 
from Market street go within one square; cars going north on Eleventh street 
carrying Germantown avenue sign board go within three squares; all cars 
going north on Sixteenth street go within one square. . 



Received 
C.opvri' )fflC0l 




ANDREW M. FAIRLIE. 



SCIENCE APPLIED TO THE BRASS 
INDUSTRY. 

By Andrew M. Fairlie. 

For the sake of progress in 
the brass industry, as well 
as for the advancement of 
science, it is highly desirable 
that the brass men and scien- 
tific men learn to know each 
other better. Science is not 
nearly so formidable as many 
believe. She should be re- 
spected, it is true, but not 
treated with awe ; for the 
benefits she has bestowed, she 
should be admired, not feared 
and shunned; and while she continues to promise aid, 
economically lightening the labors of men, improving 
the quality of products and the efficiency of processes, 
she should be cherished, not ignored, maligned nor 
abused. 

Science, it must be admitted, is a forbidding word — 
yet it need not be. As indicated by its derivation, 
science is nothing more nor less terrible than knowl- 
edge. More specifically, it is the knowledge of nature's 
laws. An incident that occurred in the course of this 
very day's work will illustrate at once the meaning 
of science, and its value to the brass industry. Mr. 

X was superintending the manufacture of a new 

metal — an alloy of nickel and lead. He had weighed 
out the metals himself, and was particular that the 
percentages should remain exactly as planned. He 
was out of the foundry when the lead was added, but 
stepped in just as the men were skimming, and as he 
did so, saw a heavy lump fall from the crucible to 
the floor. 

"What's that?" asked X , suspiciously. 

"Slag from the coke," was the reply, and this state- 
ment was corroborated by a fellow workman. 

Not content, X plunged the lump into water to 

cool it, scratched the surface with a file, and saw that 
the lump was not slag, but metal. Application of the 
magnet indicated that the metal was either nickel or 



BRASS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. 

iron, and a simple chemical test excluded the latter, so 
that the deduction was plain. The men had chilled 
the nickel by adding the lead too fast, had then 
skimmed off the frozen nickel, which had risen to the 
surface of the lead, and so, entirely ignorant of the 
fact, had spoiled their work. In this case only very 
elementary science, or knowledge, if you will, was 
required to detect the error and apply the remedy — a 
new casting. 

THE ANALYTICAL CHEMIST. 

Contemplating the help that science has already 
given the brass-maker, the analytical chemistry at 
once claims our attention. This branch of chemistry 
detects injurious impurities in the commercial metals 
from which brass is made ; it locates and measures the 
losses in the business ; by pointing out the sources of 
inaccuracy, it standardizes the mixtures of a casting 
shop ; it shows the exact composition of any metal 
submitted for reproduction ; by selecting the good and 
bad qualities of molding sands it improves the quality 
of sand castings ; it distinguishes good coal and coke 
from poor, and in many ways discovers the cause of 
trouble. 

METALLURGY. 

Metallurgy, in its turn, has been of service. The 
methods of recovering metal from scrap have been 
improved. The cause of porosity in castings has been 
found, and the soudest castings are now possible by 
the use of deoxidizers, such as silicon, phosphorus, 
aluminum or magnesium. The oxidation of metals in 
the foundry has been diminished by keeping the 
molten metal surrounded as much as possible by re- 
ducing gases, both while melting and while pouring. 
The pernicious effect of the iron stirrer for mixing 
alloys has been demonstrated, and one of graphite 
substituted. 

PHYSICS. 

Physics has furnished the conductivity bridge and 
the pyrometer. Since extremely small proportions 
of certain impurities in copper have a powerful effect 
in depressing the electrical conductivity, the former 
has been adopted as a quick and accurate means of 
testing the purity of refined copper. The pyrometer, 
by controlling the temperature, tends to render fur- 
nace processes more exact. The microscope, extend- 
ing its researches to the examination of the non-fer- 
rous metals, has been directed upon polished and 
etched sections, of copper, brass, and bronze, and has 



SCIENCE APPLIED TO THE BRASS INDUSTRY. 

revealed the varying structures resulting from dif- 
ferent degrees of heat in melting and pouring, as well 
as from forging, rolling, and other mechanical proc- 
esses. In the electroplating industry the value of cir- 
culating the electrolyte, either by rotating an electrode 
or otherwise, has been recognized and the principle 
applied. 

But it is not possible — nor, indeed, is it necessary — 
to enumerate within the limits of an association paper 
all of the scientific discoveries and inventions adopted 
in practice by the brass industry since the days when, 
eighty years ago, sheet brass was made in Waterbury, 
Conn., by alternately passing the ingot between heavy 
steel rolls and annealing in the flames of a chestnut 
wood fire. So much for the past and present — what 
is the outlook for the future? Completeness applied 
to the future is, of course, out of the question, and one 
must be content with a study of the signs of the times. 
Even thus the limitations of time and space serve an 
injunction against completeness, and we can consider 
here only a few of the problems which confront this 
generation. 

NEEDS OF THE ELECTROPLATER. 

We had in mind just now the electroplating indus- 
try. The electroplating shop needs the chemist and 
metallurgist more, perhaps, than any other branch of 
the non-ferrous metal industry. An examination of 
the inquiry columns of the trade papers demonstrates 
that rule of thumb methods in the plating room do 
not meet the requirements. The trouble experienced 
by the platers in controlling their solutions and cost- 
and the quality of their work is simply evidence that 
the electroplating shop ought to be, and must become, 
an electro-chemical and metallurgical laboratory on a 
commercial scale ; that the handful of this, the pinch 
of that, and the bucketful of the other — yes, even the 
drachm and ounce and gallon — must give place to the 
gram and the liter; in short, that science must foster 
an industry that was born of science. It is too much 
to say that science is now prepared to solve offhand 
any electroplating problem that might be presented. 
Problems in practice require scientific investigation, 
and as electroplating problems have been neglected, 
much painstaking work will be required for their solu- 
tion. Let us see what probability of success is offered 
to stimulate efforts in this direction. 

Ideally, the metal dissolved from an anode should 
equal the metal deposited on the cathode, the bath 
remaining unchanged. Practically, this desideratum 



brass association convention. 

is to-day seldom achieved. Impurities in the anode 
dissolve in the bath, polluting it, and at the same time 
metal is deposited on the cathode more rapidly than 
it is dissolved from the anode. The excess is derived 
from the bath, with consequent variation in composi- 
tion. Furthermore, certain impurities, insoluble iii 
the electrolyte, either form a coating on the anode, 
partially insulating it; or, falling off, foul the bath. 
Consequently the electrolyte has to be regenerated or 
renewed from time to time. Such obstacles should not 
be regarded as insurmountable. On the contrary, ex- 
perience shows that patient application of scientific 
principles will overcome such difficulties. For ex- 
ample, several years ago, Dr. N. S. Keith was con- 
fronted with a problem in the electrolytic refining of 
lead base bullion. 1 His solution of lead acetate and 
lead nitrate became decomposed, with the formation 
of insoluble salts which interfered with the deposition. 
The problem was finally solved by substituting for 
the original bath an electrolyte composed of lead sul- 
phate dissolved in sodic acetate. Dr. Keith avers that 
the integrity of this electrolyte was preserved indef- 
initely, that the salts gave no further trouble, and that 
equal amounts of lead were deposited at the cathode 
and dissolved from the anode. The extension of such 
studies as this to electroplating is what the industry 
needs. 

ELECTROLYTIC STRIPPING OF BRASS FROM IRON. 

Prof. Burgess has described a process for the elec- 
trolytic stripping of brass from iron, 2 by means of 
which superfluous brass may be stripped from parts 
of bicycles and automobiles and other work which has 
been subjected to the brazing process. Silver can in 
the same way be recovered from old articles submitted 
for replating, and from suspension rods, hooks, and 
baskets used in the process. Files clogged with brass, 
copper or lead may be cleaned by this means, and the 
coating of tin or tinned iron may be recovered. It 
remains for science to invent, and for the electroplat- 
ing industry to apply, a satisfactory electrolytic process 
for stripping nickel from iron. 

It is a significant fact that those metals most amenable 
to the electroplating process are metals which alloy 
readily and which are easily soldered together. 

Hence the theory that both electroplating ,and solder- 



l Electrochem. Ind., June, 1903, p. 345. 

2 Chas. F. Burgess: "Electrolytic Stripping of Metals." Electrochem. 
Ind., Jan., 1904, p. 8. 



SCIENCE APPLIED TO THE BRASS INDUSTRY. 

ing depend for the firm uniting of two metals, on sur- 
face alloying at the point of contact. A new process 
of coating metals, viz. : 

SHERARDIZING. 

(so called after its inventor, Sherard Cowper-Coles) 
has demonstrated, according to Alfred Lang 1 , that sur- 
face alloying is possible, and that, too, at comparatively 
low temperatures. Briefly, Sherardizing consists in 
coating the surface of metals with zinc by means of 
zinc dust, or "blue powder" — a by-product of the zinc 
smelters. 

Mr. Lang describes the process thus : The articles 
to be coated are placed in a cast iron drum and covered 
with commercial zinc dust; the drum is closed tightly 
and luted, and placed in an oven heated to a tempera- 
ture of about 300° C. The length of time during which 
the articles are exposed to the heat depends on the 
thickness of the deposit desired. At the end of the 
heating period the drum is allowed to cool, and the 
articles are taken cut. Notwithstanding the fact that 
metallic zinc does not vaporize below 940° C, the zinc 
dust is found to vaporize at the low temperature men- 
tioned, and, being at a higher pressure than the atmos- 
phere of the oven, the zinc gas penetrates the metal to 
be coated, forming on iron articles a protective surface 
said to be superior to either hot or cold galvanizing. 
Commenting on the characteristics of the coating, Mr. 
Lang says : 

"There is no doubt about the combination of the zinc 
and the metal of the article being sufficiently intimate 
to be classed as an alloy. Copper which has been 
sherardizetl shows a skin of hard brass, and the blow- 
pipe is unable to form a bead of zinc on the surface of 
sherardized iron as it does when the iron has been hot 
or electrically coated. . . . The longer the process 
is conducted the deeper will the vapor go into the metal." 

It may be that enthusiasm for the new process has 
banished for a time the sober judgment of its investi- 
gators ; but if even half of its claims can be justified, 
sherardizing has before it a field for operation unlim- 
ited in extent. If the process is commercially prac- 
ticable, to what lengths will it eventually go? Success- 
ful in producing surface alloys at a low temperature, it 
is possible that our scientists may yet develop an 
economical process for the cold manufacture of brass. 



1 "Theory and Practice of Sherardizing." EJectrochem. and Met. Ind., 
May, 1907, p. 187. 



BRASS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. 

PROBLEMS FOR THE BRASS FOUNDRY. 

Other problems of the foundry — more practical ones, 
and of greater interest to the manufacturer and the 
business man — offer opportunities for the advancement 
of science and the progress of the metal industry. 
What, for example, do the brass melters know of the 
efficiency of their furnaces — that is, of the relations 
which the heat units utilized bear to the heat units 
contained in the fuel consumed? Are they aware that, 
given the proper data, such relations can be calculated, 
and that the information so obtained can be used as a 
basis for devising new and more efficient furnaces? 

EFFICIENCY OF FURNACES. 

Prof. J. W. Richards, in Section VI. of his invaluable 
serial on Metallurgical Calculations, 1 cites as a problem 
for solution the efficiency of a regenerative oil-burning 
furnace manufactured by the Rockwell Engineering 
Co. Lacking certain items of information necessary 
for the solution of this particular problem, he made 
assumptions (probably not far from the truth) to sup- 
ply the missing data, and in this way calculated that the 
net efficiency of the furnace was only 14 per cent. It 
is reasonable to suppose that the wind furnace would 
prove far less efficient than even this low figure. In 
the same article 2 Prof. Richards points out the de- 
ficiency of scientific data concerning alloys. To quote: 

"There is here a wide and interesting field for metal- 
lurgical research, whose cultivation would yield results 
both of high practical and high theoretical interest, 
and yet it is comparatively untouched. What is wanted 
is complete data concerning the specific heat of solid 
and liquid alloy, and latent heat of fusion. These, 
combined with the determination of the heat evolved 
in the alloying, would furnish a sound basis for a prac- 
tical theory of alloys, besides enabling workers with 
these alloys to control the efficiency of their furnaces, 
and, in general, to know with scientific exactness what 
they are accomplishing." 

Besides the data mentioned by Prof. Richards there 
are opportunities for much valuable work along other 
lines : for example, with the pyrometer and the micro- 
scope, in determining the effect on alloys of different 
melting and pouring temperatures; the effect of varia- 
tions in the rate of cooling; the effect of different heats 
in the annealing furnaces; and so on indefinitely. 



1 Electrochem. and Met. Ind., Aug., 1905, p. 300. 
'-Ibid., p. 301. 



SCIENCE APPLIED TO THE BRASS INDUSTRY. 
NO X -FERROUS ALLOYS ELECTRICALLY PRODUCED. 

At intervals during the past three years scientific 
men have been exploiting in the technical press a pro- 
ject which must be of great interest to the brass foun- 
dryman — the manufacture of non-ferrous alloys by 
electricity. Any brass melter will admit that the cru- 
cible method of making brass is by no means an ideal 
process, and he is willing to abandon it as soon as a 
better method is substituted. The average crucible 
holds about 200 pounds of metal. Handling brass in 
such small lots involves a heavy labor charge, and fur- 
thermore involves difficulty in controlling the quality 
of the alloy. Should a single slab of spelter contain a 
large amount of impurity, the whole of it is concen- 
trated in the particular slab of brass cast. By the cru- 
cible method the losses of zinc by oxidation and volati- 
lization are enormous, and not only is the quality of the 
brass often impaired by oxidation, but owing to the 
uncertainty as to the amount of zinc lost per heat, it 
becomes very difficult to cast a zinc alloy of the pre- 
cise composition desired. The crucible furnaces are ex- 
tremely wasteful of heat ; their heat is hard to control, 
and to use them invites contamination of the metal 
with foreign matter. Finally, crucibles are costly and 
fragile. Useless after 35 or 40 heats, they are a heavy 
expense to the foundry, to say nothing of the value of 
the metal lost by an occasional accident. 

THE ELECTRIC FURNACE. 

On the other hand note the advantages claimed for 
the electric furnace : 

I. Larger tonnage per heat. Results : 
~~A. Low r er labor charge per ton. 

B. Dilution of impurities by distribution 

throughout large mass of metal. 

C. Homogeneity of product. 
II. Durability of furnace. Result: 

A. Elimination of breakage charge. 
III. Generation of heat within the metal. Results : 

A. Greater heat efficiency of furnace. 

B. Accurate control of temperature to with- 

in 10° C. 

C. Oxidizing atmosphere absent. Results : 

1. Elimination of zinc losses. 

2. Accurate mixtures of known com- 

position. 

D. Exclusion of foreign matter from mix- 

tures. 
The type of furnace recommended by those inter- 



BRASS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. 

ested is that known as the induction furnace, the heat 
being generated within the mass of metals to be fused 
into an alloy. The success attained by the induction 
furnace in the steel industry speaks well for the practi- 
cability of applying it to the brass foundry. In Febru- 
ary, 1905, the editor of a prominent technical journal 
predicted that the electric furnace would replace the 
crucible in the brass foundry within ten years. Only 
two have passed, and already the announcement has 
been made that experiments to determine the feasi- 
bility of the project are under way. 

The value of science to our industry has been merely 
hinted at ; any one of the topics suggested could be en- 
larged upon so as to exceed this paper in volume, and 
more topics could be added. But these hints may suf- 
fice to win new advocates for science applied to the 
brass industry. 

New advocates for science among the brass manu- 
facturers — greater intimacy between science and art — 
is the first requirement for progress. Other conditions, 
already laid down 1 for the progress of another industry, 
yet applicable to our own, are: 1. Wider circulation of 
scientific and technical literature ; 2. Discovery of new 
facts in science useful to the industry; 3. Clearer 
knowledge of the laws correlating these facts; 4. In- 
creasing application of science to industrial needs. 

'By Prof. J. W. Richards. 



10 




CHAS. H. PROCTOR. 



ELECTRO DEPOSITION OF BRASS. 

By Chas. H. Proctor. 

Xot since the French Syndi- 
cate controlled the copper mar- 
kets of the world, more than 20 
years ago, has copper reached 
such an intrinsic value as it has 
to-day. This is not due to any 
combination of labor or capital, 
but to the natural results of 
supply and demand. 

When we take into consid- 
eration the unprecedented de- 
mand for copper created by the 
vast changes that are taking 
place in the great motive power systems of this coun- 
try — and we might just as well say of the civilized 
world — from steam to electricity, and the tremendous 
amount of copper consumed in these changes, it is not 
necessary to go very deeply into details to form an 
opinion as to why copper has reached the high price 
at wdiich it now stands. 

The high price of copper has had such an effect on 
the brass industry of the world that in many lines of 
manufacture, which have usually been made of brass 
or a similar alloy, that metal has been replaced with 
the ferrous and non-ferrous metals of iron, steel, tin; 
and with alloys of lead, antimony, spelter and combina- 
tions of these metals. In fact, wherever possible the 
baser metals have been used to cheapen the cost of pro- 
duction. 

So we find the results of the workers of iron and 
brass in the finished product. The electro-plater, by 
his art, unites the craft into one common mass, and so 
it should be with this great brotherhood of workers in 
iron and brass. The electro-plater, on the common 
level, congratulates you upon this endeavor to unite 
your efforts and bids you "God speed." 

In preparing this paper for your consideration it is 
with the one idea to present a few practical suggestions 
on the "Electro Deposition of Brass" upon baser 
metals, as I have found them in actual practice. As 



ii 



BRASS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. 

brass consists essentially of an alloy of 2 parts of 
copper to 1 of zinc, so we should expect that for the 
same alloy in the electro depositing of brass the same 
essential proportions would be necessary to produce 
like results. But in making a careful study of this 
question in practice I have found that to produce like 
results from a two-and-one mixture it is necessary to 
use 3 parts of copper to 1 of zinc for the deposited 
alloy. 

Of the various metallic deposits now employed by 
the plater there is none that gives so much trouble and 
needs such careful treatment, for good results, as the 
brass bath, and this is the consensus of opinion of 
nearly all platers. While this may be true in many 
cases, in my own practice I have found the brass bath 
as easy to keep in working condition as copper or 
nickel, silver or gold. There is one thing important 
for successful results in brass plating — that is a study 
of the alloys of copper and zinc to understand the vari- 
ation of color resulting from the increase or decrease 
of the amount of copper employed. In the alloy of the 
foundry the two-and-one mixture produces the full 
yellow or rich brass. This color is produced with 
slight variation even when 80 parts of copper and 20 
parts of zinc are used. When we go below the two- 
and-one mixture, even as low as equal parts of each 
metal, we find the yellow color still predominates. 
This variation of color in proportion to the mixture of 
the alloy is well understood by the brass foundryman, 
but to many of the elctro-platers is an unknown quan- 
tity, and this is where the trouble comes in. It is not 
always the effect of too much cyanide, too much am- 
monia, or a too concentrated or an insufficiently dense 
bath, but to an excess of zinc that causes the trouble. 
This is shown by excessive spotting out, easily tar- 
nished deposits, or deposits that materially change 
their color when lacquered. To all of which the plater 
endeavors to find a remedy. 

In the study of alloys, as mentioned, that below the 
two-and-one mixture yellow colors still predominate. 
As an example : To-day the brass bath is normal ; work 
has been accomplished all day with satisfactory re- 
sults. To-morrow a slight variation of color is noted 
with a tendency toward a slight reddish yellow. In 
nine cases out of ten an addition of zinc will be made 
when, according to the study of the alloys, copper 
should be added to reimburse the loss noted by the 
change in color. When it is remembered that copper 
is essentially the great factor in a well composed brass 
bath, which consists largely of this metal, and that zinc 

12 



ELECTRO DEPOSITION OF BRASS. 

is withdrawn very slowly, the bath should be regulated 
with copper. 

In the composition of brass baths there is very little 
change from the formulas prescribed by the great mas- 
ter Roseleur, whose directions stand pre-eminently 
above others in their successful working. This applies 
not only to brass solutions, but to nearly all metals 
that are employed in the art of electro deposition. 

It is not necessary for me to go into details of for- 
mulas, for all platers know that a brass bath consists 
mainly of the carbonates of copper and zinc in their 
solvent of cyanide of potassium, with the additions of the 
sodium carbonate and bisulphite of soda as conduct- 
ing salts to increase the electrical conductivity ; there 
are also slight additions of ammonia to assist in main- 
taining color. 

Some operators use anodes of copper constantly in 
their baths, adding zinc when necessary to maintain 
color. This is good practice, for with an anode sur- 
face of all copper the plater can make no mistakes as 
to the metal necessary to produce the desired color. 
In my own practice I use anodes of cast copper and 
zinc in the proportion of 3 anodes of copper to 1 of 
zinc. In this manner I find it possible to easily main- 
tain a uniform deposit by the addition of cyanide and 
the soda salts, with occasionally an addition of the 
metallic salts. A slight amount of zinc dissolved in 
ammonia water, thrown towards the copper, will in- 
stantly change the color of the deposit. 

I have stated that in the composition of brass baths 
there is nothing new ; but I have in mind one com- 
pound that has appeared within the past year or two. 
I refer—to cuprous sulphite or red copper compound, 
which is rapidly replacing the acetate and carbonate 
of copper in the production of deposits of copper, 
bronze and brass. The results obtained with this 
compound have been eminently satisfactory. Its use 
avoids to a large extent the trouble experienced in 
plating iron, in the nature of blistering. It also does 
away with this trouble in the deposits upon lead and 
its alloys. 

A standard solution that can be made the basis of a 
copper, bronze or brass bath consists of 

Water 1 gal. 

Cyanide of potassium.... 6 ozs. 

Cuprous sulphite 2^ " 

Sodium bisulphite 2y 2 " 

For the production of bronze or brass by this for- 
mula, carbonate of zinc is dissolved in cyanide of 

i3 



BRASS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. 

potassium and water in the proportion of 1 part car- 
bonate to 2 parts cyanide, making a concentrated solu- 
tion. By adding % part of the amount of cuprous sul- 
phite used, a bronze bath will be the result; with the 
addition of *4 part a good brass bath will be obtained. 

It will always be found more satisfactory, when pro- 
ducing deposits of alloys, to first prepare the copper 
bath, and then make the additions of zinc when the 
bath is in working condition. 

And now a few remarks for the future. As the 
birth of the nation occurred in this city of Philadel- 
phia, it is befitting that the birth of this great Brass 
Founders' Association should take place within the 
shadow of Independence Hall. It would also be be- 
fitting if this city should see the birth of another great 
association. I refer to an Association of Platers and 
Polishers. You create, we finish and adorn your work ; 
so it would be well if the Iron Founders, the Brass 
Founders and the Platers' and Polishers' Associations 
should become as one, each the handmaiden of the 
other. Only by these methods can the great standard 
be maintained, for what is essential to one should be 
the welfare of all. 



| i 



A PLEA FOR HEALTHFUL CONDITIONS IN 
THE BRASS INDUSTRY. 

By Walter B. Snow. 

In much of the early work done for the welfare of 
the employee there was a strange confusion of mo- 
tives. Even though the project was primarily humani- 
trian in its spirit, the advertising department got in 
its work in proclaiming this spirit to all the world. 
But out of this confusion has now grown a definite 
recognition of the purely economic advantages of sur- 
rounding the workman with healthful conditions. 
While some other industries are more directly harm- 
ful to the health than is the brass industry, there is, 
•nevertheless, ample opportunity within its field to 
greatly improve the conditions. Although the heat 
and the fumes are primarily uncomfortable and only 
secondarily injurious, the greatest harm is done by the 
dust which is inhaled. This dust is usually of min- 
eral or metallic origin resulting from the grinding, 
polishing, tumbling and sandblasting processes, and 
also from the shaking out of the castings. 

It is commonly recognized that life is shortened by 
working in a dust laden atmosphere, but the extent to 
which some industries are injurious is startling. In 
the cutlery and tool industry, which is declared to be 
one of~the most dangerous trades in this class, the 
average age of the operatives at death is exceedingly 
low, and in establishments conducted without proper 
hygienic precautions sound men are rare after a few 
years' work. The prevailing cause of death is con- 
sumption, which usually overtakes a susceptible 
worker so early that his period of usefulness does not 
extend much beyond five or six years, except where 
the health is properly safeguarded. 

DANGER OF INHALING DUST. 

The testimony of physicians is, that of those em- 
ployed in this industry nearly all who reach the age 
of forty die of consumption, excepting those who suc- 
cumb to some acute disease. As proof of this state- 
ment, it is instructive to note that in Northampton, 
Mass., an important seat of the cutlery industry, the 
death rate from tuberculosis for the entire male adult 



BRASS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. 

population was 2.9 per thousand, while that for the 
cutlers of that town was four times as great ; namely, 
11.6 per thousand. 

The trouble lies not so much in any directly poison- 
ous results from inhaling- the dust as in its power to 
bring about constant irritation, which produces such 
a condition of the mucous surfaces that they more 
readily admit of invasion by disease germs. Fortu- 
nately brass is less irritating than steel, and conse- 
quently the results in the brass industry are not as 
disastrous as they are among the cutlers. But the dust 
of corundum and emery is peculiarly irritating, and 
the brass workers' surroundings are therefore suscep- 
tible of marked improvement. 

The unhygienic conditions existing in the various 
industries have received the attention of State Boards 
of Health, whose official investigations are bringing 
about the passage and enforcement of more stringent 
laws looking to the safeguarding of the health of the 
employees in all industrial establishments. 

MECHANICAL MEANS FOR REMOVING DUST. 

Experience has shown, and the reports of investiga- 
tions confirm the fact, that mechanical means are ab- 
solutely necessary to maintain a rapid air change or 
to insure proper removal of dust. In fact the fan 
blower figures everywhere as the only device adapted 
to secure these results. It is manifest that the action 
must be positive, and of sufficient intensity to create 
ample movement of air. Where there is but little dust 
or the requirements of ventilation are slight, a fan 
applied for mere renewal of air throughout the entire 
extent of a room will meet the requirements. When 
warranted by the size of the plant the fan may form 
part of a blower heating system, by means of which 
warm air from a centralized heater is delivered under 
pressure through pipes to all parts of the building. In 
overheated rooms and particularly for summer venti- 
lation the disc or propeller type of fan meets the re- 
quirements if placed in wall or ceiling. 

INDIVIDUAL EXHAUSTS. 

Wherever dust or fumes are formed locally, as in 
connection with grinding and polishing wheels, tum- 
bling barrels, or furnaces, the exhaust should be direct 
from hoods which enclose the objectionable source as 
completely as possible. In a word, prevention is bet- 
ter than cure. The objection which is often shown by 
workmen to hoods and similar contrivances — even to 
the extent of actual destruction — is largely due to their 

16 



HEALTHFUL CONDITIONS IN THE BRASS INDUSTRY. 

improper construction. In fact the cause for condem- 
nation or criticism of many exhausting systems lies in 
the method of application of the fan, and not in the 
fan itself. The success of the fan not only depends 
upon its speed and its proper proportioning to the 
work, but also upon the system of piping and hoods 
which would give the greatest efficiency. It seems so 
simple to employ a local tinsmith to rig up an exhaust- 
ing system that it is not strange that unsatisfactory 
conditions result. 

Even though the fan be of ample size when first 
installed, it may, as a result of speeding up to meet 
added requirements, frequently demand from 50 to 
100 per cent, more power than would be necessary to 
'do the work with a proper outfit. It is none too gen- 
erally understood that the power required to drive a 
fan increases as the cube of the speed. In other words, 
that doubling the speed calls for an eight-fold increase 
in power, while twenty-seven times the power is re- 
quired at three times the speed ; an increase of only 25 
pr cent, in speed calls for nearly double the power, and 
yet such an increase is common enough. How long 
would it take to pay for a new outfit from the money 
thus squandered in excessive power? 

DESIGNS OF HOODS FOR POLISHING WHEELS. 

The designs of hoods for grinding, polishing, or 
buffing wheels are many and varied. Each must be 
arranged to suit the particular class of work for which 
the wheel is used. In some cases it is even necessary 
to have several different types in the same room. This 
is true where the pieces are of such shape and size 
that it-is impossible to get very close to the wheel, the 
result being that at one time the operator uses the 
wheel at a point near the top, and again at a point 
directly underneath. Under these conditions especial 
care must be taken to provide the most effective type 
of hood and maintain the maximum blast. In heavy 
work of this type the air suction pipe should be 5 
inches in diameter for wheels up to and including 16 
inches in diameter bv 3-inch face. In ordinary srind- 
ing and buffing rooms the suction pipes should be 4 
inches in diameter for wheels 2]/ 2 inches or less in 
width, and from 10 to 18 inches in diameter. Wheels 
ranging from 19 inches to 28 inches should have 5 
inch or 6 inch pipes according to class of work for 
which they are used. 

All hoods should be so designed that the velocity 
through the openings should not be less than 5,000 
feet per minute, which is usually sufficient to create 

17 



BRASS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. 



i 


Jr, 

Mm - ^ 


i 


" Wi » 1 • -^ 






A 


HHUUW 




* J$ 


1 



GRINDING DISCS EQUIPPED WITH SPECIAL HOODS. DESIGNED 
TO GIVE FREEDOM TO WORKMEN. 




A MODEL EXHAUSTING ARRANGEMENT WITH MAIN PIPE 

ON FLOOR. 

18 



HEALTHFUL CONDITIONS IN THE BRASS INDUSTRY 




£l£M770At 



A TYPICAL EXHAUSTING ARRANGEMENT FOR BUFFING 
WHEELS WITH PIPES BENEATH FLOOR. 



19 



BRASS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. 

the draft necessary to carry away the particles. The 
best general type of hood is of patented form, pro- 
vided with fa receptacle below to trap out all heavy 
particles, as well as the threads from the buffing 
wheels, while allowing the finer dust to pass through 
the pipe. The result is that the metallic particles are 
left in clean condition ready for resmelting, and the 
wear on the pipes and the fan is greatly reduced. This 
arrangement also prevents the annoyance caused by 
the dust from the rag wheel adhering to the fan wheel 
and throwing it out of balance. The trapping-out 
feature furthermore permits of the ready recovery 
from the bottom of the hood of any small piece of 
work or other material, which with other types of 




EXHAUSTING ARRANGEMENT WITH 
PIPES CARRIED BENEATH FLOOR. 

hoods might get into the main trunk line or up into 
the fan. 

All properly designed systems should have clean- 
out caps so as to provide free access to the interior of 
the piping for the removal of anything that might pos- 
sibly tend to clog it. The main suction pipe snould 
be proportionally increased in size as each connection 
is made to it. 

TO SECURE ECONOMICAL RESULTS. 

To secure the most economical results a fan should 
be chosen which has an area of inlet about twice the 
combined area of the inlet pipes. This proportion will 
give the maximum velocity through the branch pipes 
and hoods. The fans should then be operated at about 

20 



HEALTHFUL CONDITIONS IN THE BRASS INDUSTRY. 

\ l / 2 ounce speed, under which condition it would con- 
sume about y 2 horse power for each 4 inch opening. 

The most work is done, and consequently the most 
power is required by a fan when it is discharging with 
free inlet and outlet. The more extended the system 
of piping, the smaller the area of inlet or outlet; and 
the greater the friction, the less will be the volume 
delivered by the fan ; and consequently the less will be 
the power required to drive it. It is therefore mani- 
fest that the fact that the fan is consuming but little 
power is not always evidence of its successful opera- 
tion, for it may be doing little effective work. 

The dust which is collected by the fan should be 
discharged into a centrifugal dust collector. Here the 
dust is separated from the air by centrifugal force ; the 
air escapes from the top practically free from dust, 
while the dust itself drops out of the bottom through 
a pipe. It should be periodically removed. The dust 
from wheels grinding iron and steel should not be mixed 
with that from rag wheels, for in some cases fire will 
result. Separate fans and systems should be used. 

TUMBLING BARREL EXHAUST. 

The same general principles hold in connection with 
systems exhausting from tumbling barrels. If the 
maximum effect of the fan is desired on tumbling bar- 
rels equipped with hollow trunnions, the area of fan 
inlet should be about double that of the sum of the 
openings in the trunnions. The sizes of pipes and the 
speeds of fans to be applied in connection with housed 
rattlers must depend largely upon the conditions, but 
a 6-inch pipe connection will usually serve for each 
tumbling barrel, if the same is tightly enclosed. A fan 
runnnmg at about 1-ounce speed will give sufficent 
draft. 

No general rules can be given for the application of 
the fan system to sandblast rooms or apparatus. The 
arrangement must depend entirely upon the local con- 
ditions, but the provisions must be generous if suc- 
cessful results are to be obtained. 

With installations such as are here described it is 
possible to maintain a relatively healthy atmosphere, 
which is bound to insure better work. Between the 
humanitarian spirit of the employer, the financial ad- 
vantage of healthful conditions, and the requirements 
of the law there is certainly no reason why healthful 
conditions shoud not be found wherever the brass in- 
dustry is pursued. 



21 



AUTOMATIC POLISHING. 

By Jonas A. Parker. 

Attempts at automatic polishing or buffing extend 
back over a period of many years, but only during 
the past few years has it taken on a practical form and 
met with, such popular favor as to assume its ultimate 
success, both as regards economy and improved health 
conditions. Mechanical polishing will continue to 
advance along with other metal working machinery 
just in proportion as it receives such intelligent at- 
tention as it deserves. The finest machine shop equip- 
ment manned and supervised as some buff-rooms now 
are would produce results disappointing to a firm's 
manager, yet we do not attribute many past failures 
of mechanical polishing to the ignorance of the opera- 
tives alone. 

Automatic polishing has been held back because of 
a crazy endeavor of inventors to construct a machine 
that would polish anything from a button to a cook- 
stove; Patent attorneys have feasted, experimental 
machinists have benefitted and the junk dealer has 
smiled as he has seen some dear creation relegated to 
the scrap heap. Experimenters at last changed their 
ideas and they built a machine to polish buttons and 
nothing else and to-day you don't stop to pick up a 
button as you once did, and this in a great measure is 
due to the automatic button polisher. 

The same in a measure is true of cook stoves and 
heaters, though not so often found to pick up. 

After many discouragements and trials a machine is 
now manufactured and in use in many of the larger 
stove works in which you place castings similar in 
form and outline, and their polishing is rapidly accom- 
plished. No attempt is made to polish all the parts on 
this one machine ; other parts, the rings for instance, 
receive attention from a machine bearing no point of 
resemblance to the first machine. I am credibly in- 
formed by a large manufacturer of stoves that they 
simply could not complete their orders had they to de- 
pend on hand polishing. The same may be said of tub- 
ing used in gas range, bathroom, chandelier fixtures 
and bedstead work. 

22 



AUTOMATIC POLISHING. 

Later automatic machines for polishing hollow-ware 
were called for and the call was not in vain. After 
experiments extending over a period of three years, 
machines are now operating in many large factories 
not only doing the work at a great saving in cost, but 
doing better work than can be obtained in hand buff- 
ing. Such inroads have been made in the polishing 
field by mechanical polishing that in some instances 
hollow-ware factories have dispensed with one-half 
their former polishing force and maintained an in- 
creased output. Owing to similarity of sizes and 
shapes hollow-ware has proven an advantageous field 
for automatic polishing and manufacturers have not 
been slow to avail themselves of the advantage afford- 
ed. Lamps, particularly those of the automobile va- 
riety, search lights and headlight reflectors are also 
included in this line. 

RELIABILITY. 

Another point not to be lost sight of in an investi- 
gation of mechanical polishing is the reliability of the 
machine. They do not absent themselves from the 
factory as is sometimes the case of hand polishers, 
thus decreasing the output during a rush season per- 
haps. They serve as a reminder to their operator that 
they are here to clo the work and being simple of opera- 
tion no time is lost owing to absence of regular opera- 
tor, as another without skilled training can quickly 
operate them at their full capacity. 

HEALTH CONDITIONS. 

In taking up the health argument permit me to 
quote from an article in The Metal Industry of Febru- 
ary last, entitled "The Health of Buffers and Polishers" 
and coming from the business agent of the Metal 
Polishers and Allied Trades of North America. "That 
from 1903 to 1906 inclusive out of 205 deaths 148 were 
of metal polishers, who died of tuberculosis." Out of 
these five divisions of trade, three-fourths of the whole 
number of deaths occurred among those employed in 
the polishing departments. With these facts staring 
us in the face, is it not time to ask ourselves if these 
men were not murdered and without appointing a com- 
mittee of investigation say to ourselves, who were 
their murderers? 

So long as the buff wheel is made the medium for 
producing the shining surface of metal just so long will 
the hand polishers' trade remain what it is to-day. 

Ragged irregular shapes can not be successfully 
polished by machines, but while waiting the coming of 

23 



BRASS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. 

the electrician or chemist who shall by invention ob- 
literate all reminder of the death-dealing buff wheel, 
is it not incumbent upon you as employers to investi- 
gate claims made for ameliorating this devastation of 
life? 

You ask if machine polishing can be adapted to your 
line of work and how it will benefit the polisher ? 

The answer is, first by releasing a large percentage 
of those now employed over the disease breeding buff 
wheels, and forcing them, if necessary, to other trades 
fit for man. 

• Second, in removing those who are needed to oper- 
ate machines, away from the seat of trouble to a 
natural position, attending the wants of these mechan- 
ical polishers. Improving the condition has improved 
the man and he leaves the factory after his day's work 
with the same feeling of satisfaction as the machinist 
or the office clerk. 

In conclusion, then, I invite you to investigate auto- 
matic polishing. I believe it worthy of your encourage- 
ment both from a financial and a humanitarian stand- 
point. 



24 



PLACES OF INTEREST IN PHILADELPHIA. 



INDEPENDENCE HALL. 

The rear of the building faces Chestnut street, between 5th 
and 6th streets. When it was erected, 1729-1735, our forefathers 
had no notion that the city would advance toward the north to 
the extent it has, and they made the mistake the designers of 
the Washington Capitol did — faced it the wrong way. Here 
the Declaration of Independence had its being, and here the first 
Congresses met and preparations were made for the Revolu- 
tionary War. To the east is the old Supreme Court House, 
built in 1791 for the Supreme Court of the United States. To 
the west is Congress Hall, where Washington was inaugurated 
President for his second term in 1793, and John Adams in 1797. 
All the buildings have been restored as far as possible, and con- 
tain many priceless relics, the most important being Liberty 
Bell, which on the 8th of July, 1776, proclaimed "liberty through- 
out the land." 



CARPENTERS' HALL 

Is -at the head of a court running south from Chestnut street, 
between 3d and 4th. This was built in 1724, by the Carpenters' 
Company, an organization of carpenters and architects. Here 
was assembled the first Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, 
and here originated the measures that led to the existence of the 
United States. 



THE CITY HALL 



Is a vasf" building covering 4^2 acres, exclusive of the central 
court, located at the intersection of Market and Broad streets, 
and erected at an estimated cost of $20,000,000. The tower is 
550 feet high and carries a colossal statue of William Penn. 
The tower proper is built of iron and is now a sort of bronze 
color. Ten or fifteen years ago the component parts of this 
tower attracted much attention because of the attempts to electro- 
plate them with aluminum, the idea being that this would form 
a permanent protective coating and in color would harmonize 
with the remainder of the structure. The building is open to 
the public and a guide will be furnished, free, by applying to the 
office of the Commissioners of Public Buildings, on the fourth 
floor. 



U. S. MINT. 

The first United States mint was established near Market and 
7th streets in 1792. The requirements demanded a new mint, 
and the present structure was erected at 17th and Spring Garden 

25 



BRASS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. 

streets. Visitors are admitted daily from 9 to 12, and a guide 
is furnished, free, to conduct visitors through the various de- 
partments. 



THE BOURSE. 



This is an institution peculiar to Philadelphia. A few years 
ago the business men of the city felt the need of a central build- 
ing in which their affairs could be looked after. The result is 
seen in the large building on 5th street, between Market and 
Chestnut, which was opened in 1896. Here are housed all but 
two of the organized exchanges and wholesale associations of 
the city. The Bourse is well worth a visit. 



FAIRMOUNT PARK, 

With its 3,000 acres extending along both sides of the Schuykill 
River, with its Zoological Garden, Art Gallery and Horticultural 
Hall, the two last mentioned remaining from the Centennial 
Exposition of 1776. The park is easily reached by any of the 
lines going north to Girard avenue. 



GIRARD COLLEGE. 



This institution was founded by Stephen Girard, who left 
some $17,000,000 to be devoted to the support and education of 
white male orphans, the preference being given to Philadelphia, 
then the State of Pennsylvania, then New York and lastly New 
Orleans. The corner stone was laid in 1833 and the building 
was opened in 1848. Visitors are admitted by ticket, to be ob- 
tained at the Girard Trust, 12th street, near Chestnut. 



26 




INDEPENDENCE HALL. The Birthplace of the Republic 




Photograph by J. W. Paxson Company. 
THE SECOND REGIMENT ARMORY, The Convention Hall 



aA complete report of the proceedings of tfye Convention of 
^American Foundrymen's ^Association and the New Brass 
^Association published in the June Number of 

THE cMETAL INDUSTRY 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Q 



021 533 820 4 




THE METAL INDUSTRY 



IS THE FIRST JOURNAL IN THE WORLD 
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE 
NON-FERROUS METALS. DEVOTED TO 
ALL OF THE NON-FERROUS METALS 
AND ALLOYS SINCE JANUARY, 1903. TO 
THE ALUMINUM, BRASS AND COPPER 
INDUSTRIES SINCE OCTOBER, 1894. 
IT LEADS— DOES NOT FOLLOW— AND IS 
THE ORGAN OF THE METAL AND PLAT- 
ING TRADES. 

EVERY MANUFACTURER, EVERY PUR- 
CHASING AGENT, EVERY SUPERINTEN- 
DENT, EVERY METALLURGIST, EVERY 
FOREMAN AND EVERY WORKMAN 
NEEDS THE INFORMATION PUBLISHED 
IN THE READING AND ADVERTISING 
PAGES OF 



THE METAL INDUSTRY 

61 BEEKMAN STREET, NEW YORK 




The Technical Press, 238 William Street, New York City 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 533 820 4 



Conservation Resources 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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I 



Conservation Resources 
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Pb 8.5, Buffered 



